In 1956, twenty-three-year-old Colin Clark began work as an assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl, the film that united Sir Laurence Olivier with Marilyn Monroe. The blonde bombshell and the legendary actor were ill suited. Monroe, on honeymoon with her new husband, Arthur Miller, was insecure, often late, and heavily medicated on pills. Olivier, punctual, had no patience for Monroe and the production became chaotic. Clark recorded it all in two unforgettable diaries—the first a charming fly-on-the- wall account of life as a gofer on the set; the other a heartfelt, intimate, and astonishing remembrance of the week Clark spent escorting Monroe around England, earning the trust and affection of one of the most desirable women in the world. Boring, boring boring. I enjoyed it, but oh, my God, what a self-important kid Colin was! Am I really supposed to believe that this 23-year-old third assistant director actually advised Marilyn about her performance, or that he had the temerity to tell her that she was better than that "ham, Bette Davis?" Or that he had to keep turning Marilyn down because HE was afraid that Tony and Pulitzer Award winner Arthur Miller would be consumed with jealousy and leave her? It could be that he actually wrote those pretentious things back in the late 1950s. Harder to accept that a British lad viewed the Millers as as famous as Grace Kelly and Rainier or JFK and Jacqueline when Jackie Kennedy wasn't even nationally well known (much less internationally famous) until the 1960 election.Once you get past the stuff about Colin himself, the book is entertaining and informative. Lots of great insights into how movies were made. Marilyn must have been as exasperating and manipulative as she was magical, for she got on Olivier's last nerve, and he lived with and worked with Vivien Leigh (and she was no slouch in the diva department).It also amused me that, in the end, the book is a lot like the movie it was about in that Marilyn, for all her issues, is enduringly compelling. 50 years after her death, she's still relevant and fascinating. Her life may have been sad but her legacy triumphed.
What do You think about My Week With Marilyn (2001)?
Showed just how sad Marilyn Monroe was. Also how crazy she was.
—bekkybombs
A bit desperate for attention in my opinion.
—crystalle
